


Elbow Grease (Or Potato Chip Grease)

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Mechanics, Alternate Universe- Werewolves are still a thing, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Laura Hale Lives, M/M, Mechanic Stiles Stilinski, Mechanics, Meet-Cute, Werefox Stiles Stilinski, Writer Derek Hale, sbmechanic, sterekbingo2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-16 10:56:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18690097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: The mechanic shop in Beacon Hills is an old, run down, embarrassment of a thing, with seemingly exactly two employees, one of wich seemed to revel in being the walking, breathing, home for grease and all of the filth that came with itIf Derek wasn't afraid of his brakes dying in the middle of the road, he would have driven to the shop two hours away in the next town- atleast their air-conditioning didn't sound like a dying animal





	Elbow Grease (Or Potato Chip Grease)

**Author's Note:**

> Day two of Sterek Bingo- "Mechanic" <3

Derek Hale is not a car person

Not because he's especially bad with them or anything, but just because he didn't particularly care about cars

He was a simple man when it came to vehicles, as evidenced by the fact that he drove a "mom car" around

~~He still kind of resented the fact that Erica called it that but it didn't really make it untrue~~

As such, however, this meant that he wasn't great with mechanics, and when he had car trouble, he went to a mechanic, who he atleast usually trusted

After all, he usually had no reason not to trust them, he didn't know much about cars, he always figured that they knew better than he did

....

This was not the case upon moving back to Beacon Hills and meeting the newly minted mechanic, Stiles Stilinski, who Derek is nearly _certain_ has absolutely _no idea_ what he's doing

When he pulled up to the mechanic shop- wich was a small garage with a tiny storefront that looked like it was perfectly situated for a town as small as Beacon Hills- the first thing he saw was a pale, baby-faced man covered in grease and oil, dancing around holding a wrench in one hand and a car part of unknown origins in the other

....

If it weren't the breaks he was having a problem with, he would have left right then and there and gone elsewhere, even if that meant driving two hours into the next town

Still, the moment the dancing mechanic spotted him, there was no turning back

The guy smiled brightly, his face lit up as he waved to Derek enthusiastically

"ERICA!! WE"VE GOT A CUSTOMER!!!" he shouted- loudly enough for Derek to hear him even through the car, even with his werewolf hearing that was something of a feat- before running off towards the entrance to the building

...

Great.....

 

~+~

 

"The good news is that you're next in line, we just finished our last car so we can start on your's right away,"

"And the bad news?" Derek asked expectingly- because ofcourse there was _always_ bad news

"The bad news is that it'll still take a little wile to run diagnostics and everything, not to mention fixing it, depending on the problem, we might even have to order a part, so I'm not sure if you'll really want to stick around wile we work on it,"

"It's fine, I don't mind waiting a couple of hours," he shrugged, wich clearly took the blonde- Erica, as her nametag read- by surprise

"You sure you wouldn't rather just... take an uber or something?"

"I'm sure, I don't like ridesharing if I can avoid it,"

Clearly, once more, Erica seemed surprised, but she appeared to shrug it off and take Derek's keys from the counter

"Alrighty then, let me know if you need something, we've got two vending machines around the corner on your right,"

Derek only gave a quiet nod of compliance before heading off to get something out of the aforementioned machines

He supposed he could have a small snack wile he waited....

Grabbing his wallet, he pulled out a few quarters, popping two in the drink machine- and silently pondering over the fact that everything was somehow, magically, only fifty cents- and pressing the button for a coke, before popping two more in the snack machine and pressing the button for some chips

A minute later, the familiar clank of a soda can hitting the bottom of the machine sounded through the hall, but the chips were nowhere to be found

Derek was looking right at the thing and the little spiral coil around the barbecue chips wasn't even _trying_ to move

Annoyed, he reached out and gave the machine a gentle tap, carefull not to push it too hard- lest his hand go straight through the glass...- in an attempt to release the chips

Nothing

Wrinkling his nose, he decided to try something else and pressed the "release change" button

But nothing happened

"Motherfu-"

"Barbecue?"

Startled, Derek spun around, coming face to filthy face with the mechanic who was currently wiping his hands off on an equally filthy cloth

It seemed like a pointless endeavor, the grease looked like it was just going in an endless cycle of leaving his hands, rubbing on the cloth, then rubbing back onto his hands again

Did he not have an _actual_ clean cloth....?

"Um... yes..." the werewolf finally said, upon registering that he had been asked a question

"Yeaaaaaaah that one always sticks, has since I started working here," he noted, gently waving Derek aside so that he was standing right in front of the machine now

"You just gotta know where to hit it..." he mused, clearing his throat and putting both hands on the sides of the machine before- .... lifting his leg and _kicking the ever. loving. **SHIT!**_ out of the machine

Derek's jaw dropped open

He felt like he was watching a real life World's Dumbest episode unfolding right in front of him, he'd suspect that there were cameras around here somewhere, filming this, that Derek was being _punked_ , but honestly the shop was so small and run down and ratty that he was pretty sure any cameras would be far, far too obvious to be hidden

Finally though, a bag of barbeque chips shook free- as well as a pack of Reeses and a Snickers bar- and the mechanic stopped, bent over- giving Derek _far_ too good of a veiw of his ass, thanks- and fetched the food, handing Derek's chips to him with a bright, innocent smile, as if he _hadn't_ just gone postal on a vending machine

"Here ya' go,"

".... Um.... thanks..." Derek muttered, slowly taking the bag and reaching down to grab his coke from the other machine

"No problem, so, head's up, the barbecue chips stick, you have to press REALLY hard on the 'C' and '8' buttons, and that box of raisenets has been here since I was six so if you value your life, please don't even try it,"

Gods, what _was_ this place? Something out of The Walking Dead...?

Maybe Derek had just gotten spoiled wile he was in New York, going to mechanic's shops with relatively working vending machines, air-conditioning that didn't sound like a dying walrus taking it's last breaths, mostly unstained carpet, and a TV that didn't look like it was put together with glue and rubber bands...

"Right.... got it...." he said slowly, watching as the mechanic stepped aside and suddenly tossed the Snickers bar across the room

"Yo Erica!! Heads up!"

_"OW!! Stiles you little bitch! That hit me in the eye!! I'm gonna turn you into a scarf you asshole!!"_

Stiles- who's nametag was blotted out by, you guessed it, _more grease_ \- winced and slowly stepped closer to Derek, as if the werewolf could offer him some sort of protection

"You know one of these days I SWEAR I'm going to have better aim..."

Somehow Derek doubted that- _highly_

"Anyway, sorry about all that, so how's Beacon Hills treating you? You've been back for ... what, two months now?"

Derek must have looked as surprised as he felt, as when Stiles glanced over his shoulder back at him- already putting two quarters in the drink machine himself- he gave a little snicker of amusement

"I remember you dude, you're Derek Hale, right? Talia's kid?"

"Yes.... how do you know?"

Derek didn't remember Stiles, after all, and he liked to think of himself as being relatively good at remembering people, so he didn't think they had known eachother before...

"Cora and I were in the same class when we were in second grade, she talked about you alot and I uh.... well, the house fire was pretty big news,"

Derek found himself frowning, grazing his tongue against his teeth and going quiet

He hadn't wanted to think about that....

"Sorry dude,"

"It's... alright,"

It wasn't, but he didn't blame Stiles for bringing it up

"Hunters, am I right?"

Now that really took the werewolf by surprise, his head jerking up as he stared at the mechanic in shock

"Oh, yeah, uh... werefox, scent is hidden under all the grease but I could smell _your_ wolfy butt coming from a mile away,"

"How? How do you smell _anything_ under the scent of all that oil?"

It was almost as big of a mystery to him as the question of why there was a bird nest on top of the old, empty water tank a few feet away was

"Eh, ya' work with this stuff long enough, you adapt, I've been fucking with cars since I was like, fourteen, always loved 'em, I inherited my mom's jeep wich was on it's last leg like.... fifteen years ago,"

"And you rebuilt it?" he guessed

"Oh no no no, it's on _half_ of it's last leg now but I'm still not letting Roscoe die, he's my treasure,"

That probably should have been a huge put-off for Derek, but actually...

He found it pretty endearing

He understood being sentimentally attached to things belonging to one's parents and not wanting to give them up or modify them even for your own good, after all, he still wore his father's leather jacket, even though it was too big for him and he refused to get it altered to fit better

Somehow the idea of a mechanic driving around in a peice of junk but not wanting to change anything about it due to sentimental value was kind of..... cute

(Ofcourse, Derek was just assuming that Stiles _chose_ not to fix it, it was equally possible that Stiles was a horrible mechanic and he was about to get his car back in peices, but he was trying not to give that thought any credence)

"I understand where you're coming from, and ... yes, Beacon Hills is- .. well, it's as good as it ever was,"

Weather or not that was actually good was up to the individual person, however

"That bad huh?" Stiles teased back

"Well listen, have you been to the new museum yet? The one on Maple? Um... Danny ... something?"

"The Danvers Natural History Museum?" Derek guessed

"Yeah that place!! Have you been yet?"

"No, afraid not, I was waiting on my sister but she just got accepted for a studying-abroad program and is going to be in Germany for the next several months studying psychology,"

"Oh wow, Cora's gonna be a psychologist?"

Derek shook his head, lips twitching up into a small grin

"Laura,"

"Oh! Hell, good for her! I've got a penpal in Germany who just graduated actually, she's in the process of getting a job in psychology now, I hear the programs there are great,"

"That's nice, I hear it's pretty good too,"

That aside though, Derek was just surprised to hear that people still had penpals these days....

"Yeah, so what's Cora up to?"

"Law enforcement, she just entered the police academy,"

"Oh shit really? That's great! Is she around? She should come work with my dad!"

"Afraid she's in New Mexico currently, but I'll let her know you offered," he teased playfully

Stiles looked like he wanted to say something else, but sadly was cut off by his phone, making him frown in minor annoyance

Derek had to admit, he was a little disappointed, he had really wanted to talk more to the mechanic

It was rare that he ever clicked with anyone, especially well enough to really have a conversation with them, but... oh well

It was probably better this way anyhow

Stiles needed to get back to work and Derek needed to get back to - ... doing... nothing wile eating a tiny bag of chips and reading his new book

Stiles looked up to apologize, but Derek only shook his head and smiled, a silent "Go ahead" as he left to go sit down on the old, stuffing-bled couch that looked like it had been dragged off the street....

God, what was WITH this place?

He sighed, sat down, and cracked open his coke as he set his messenger bag down on the couch next to him and pulled out his book

Maybe once he got an ETA on how long the fix would take, he could get his laptop out and do a little writing....

"NO! For the last time- we are never, ever, ever, EVER getting back together, and if I have to throw Taylor Swift lyrics at you until you listen to me, I will!"

Derek hadn't _wanted_ to overhear, but it was hard to avoid when Stiles had shouted so loudly, and now ... well....

Now he was a little bit invested

"Because I hate you and also because I have a boyfreind now!"

Oh.... so apparently Stiles hadn't been flirting with him after all....

Derek had sort of thought that he had been for a li-

"His name? .. His name is Derek!"

Wait what-

"Well no, you _wouldn't_ know him, he just moved here!"

W h a t-

"Um... where from? From... New York!"

_W H A T!?_

"You know Theo I really don't know why I'm even answering these stupid questions of your's anyway, I don't have to answer anything! .. Yes he IS real and he IS employed, he's a-!!"

Suddenly, Stiles turned his head towards Derek, a pleading look on his face, eyes big and round, and Derek felt weirdly obligated to help...

"Writer," Derek sighed quietly, not sure why he was helping in this madness

"Writer! He's a writer! And yes I AM with him right now, no he can't talk to you, he's taking a shower, now fuck off!"

Stiles hung up after that, his chest heaving as he shoved his phone back in his pocket and ran his hands over his face in frustration

Derek had a choice here:

A. Go back to his own business and try to pretend that never happened, or B- ...

"Are you alright?" Derek asked quietly, slowly standing up and walking towards the mechanic, who just nodded quietly, though clearly seemed rather miserable

"Yeah yeah I'm fine... just.... crazy ex... that's all, sorry for getting you involved in all that, I just panicked,"

"Don't worry about it, it's alright, though, you _do_ know that 'I hate you' is a perfectly acceptable excuse for not getting back together with someone all on it's own, right?"

Not that anyone should even have to go that far- no means no and people should respect that

Ofcourse, Derek knew from experience that just because they _should_ didn't mean that they _did_ , but still...

"I know... I know, he just.... he just makes me so fucking mad.... I wanted to show him up and got carried away, sorry,"

"It's fine, but just so you know.... if I'm going to be your boyfreind, you're going to have to take me to that museum first,"

Stiles looked up, beaming like a ray of sunlight

"Seriously?"

"Seriously, just do me one favor,"

"What's that?"

"Tell me what exactly is _wrong_ with this place, I know we live in a small town but this is just rediculous,"

"Ooooh that, well, actually... I used most of my college fund to buy this place from Old Al right after I got out of school, it wasn't too expensive to get my certification and Old Al wanted to sell to one of those terrible chain places, I scraped together just enough to match their offer and he gave it to me instead because of me being local and all, but as you can imagine-"

"The cost wiped you out huh?"

"Exactly,"

Derek nodded slowly, looking around the run down little shop and leaning back against the wall

"What if I helped you fix this place up a little?"

"... Wait, really? Why? What's the catch?"

"No catch, I'm a writer, I respect people who live their dreams even if they aren't that profitable, I'm lucky enough to be able to live on my inheritance even if my books don't do well but rarely do people have that blessing so... I want to help, besides, I may suck with cars but I'm not bad with home repair,"

"Dude... are you serious?"

"Completely," Derek nodded, smiling a little as Stiles suddenly threw himself forward, thanking the werewolf profusely and giving Derek a tight, squeezing hug..... and getting grease all over him

"Alright... that's enough... please don't ruin this shirt..."

Stiles laughed slightly, backing up and giving him a shy smile

"Right, sorry,"

"Don't mention it, but I _do_ have one request,"

"Hm? What's that?" Stiles asked innocently, eyebrows raising as Derek pulled his wallet out and gave him a twenty

"Invest in some new cleaning cloths,"


End file.
